Awesome Covers

French musician Grégoire Blanc brings his own unique flair to the 1973 Pink Floyd classic “The Great Gig in the Sky” with a soul-stirring cover performed on the highly-expressive Haken Continuum, a vintage Elektor Formant modular synth, grand piano, and a theremin taking on Clare Torry’s famous vocals.

The members of the brass-forward, lo-fi NYC band Too Many Zooz turn in one of the coolest cover versions of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit ever. Matt Muirhead’s trumpet stands in for Cobain’s vocals, Leo Pellegrino’s baritone sax takes the guitar parts, and David Parks kicks out the beats on his marching band drum kit.

Since witnessing the horror of The Exorcist in our youth, Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells gives us chills every time we hear it. We think it’s even more creepy when performed on a church pipe organ, as demonstrated by musician Theo Hes and his helper flipping some of the controls.

If you happened to be in Weert, The Netherlands on 7.27.2021, you might have heard something unexpected emerging from one of its churches. Musicians Frank Steinjns and Jitse Zonneveld turned in an awesome cover version of the fast-paced Motörhead track Ace of Spades on church bells, accompanied by electric guitar.

The 1980s were a good decade for music, giving us bands like Tears for Fears, The Human League, and Soft Cell along the way. To celebrate his love for the new wave, pop, and rock music from the decade of big hair and Rubik’s Cubes, stone-faced pianist Vinheteiro offers up a 5-minute concert of some of the era’s best tracks.

Cy Leo, Ivan Chong, Jerry Wong, and Ramiel Leung of the quartet Perfect Fourth turn in a perfectly executed cover version of the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s cool jazz classic Take Five, replacing the piano, drums, flute, and alto sax of the original with harmonicas. They also do a mean version of the William Tell Overture.

When he was 14, musician Mike Dawes heard Eddie Van Halen play guitar and says it rocked his world. Now, put on your headphones and let the sound envelop you as Mike pays tribute to Eddie’s namesake with an acoustic cover of the 1984 hit Jump. Perhaps Mike will inspire some young musicians with his impeccable playing too.

The soundtrack to season one of Amazon’s Paradise City is filled with some great music, including this cover version of the Pet Shop Boys 1987 hit It’s a Sin, performed by Korn frontman Jonathan Davis. The moody approach to JD’s cover suits the weighty subject matter of the track well.

When Queen created the track Killer Queen back in 1974, they probably never envisioned it being performed by a brass quintet. But here we are, nearly 50 years later, and the operatic rock classic sounds fantastic played on trumpet, solo horn, flugelhorn, soprano trumpet, and trumpet by the talented Seb Skelly.

The Beach Boys track God Only Knows is one of our favorite songs. We also love Scary Pockets and Pomplamoose singer Nataly Dawn. So let’s see what happens when all three come together. We miss the vocal harmonies of the original, but we dig the funky and soulful new take on the 1966 rock classic.

Daft Punk and Radiohead are two of our all-time favorite musical acts. But what would it sound like if the robots decided to play Paranoid Android? Well, Jehan has the answer, and it’s pretty awesome. Between the fat synth beats and the wailing electric guitar, it reminds us more than a little bit of Muse.

Pink Floyd’s Time is one of the all-time great concept rock tracks. Crank up the volume and let the musical waves wash over you as Kent Nishimura performs an awesome cover arrangement of the Dark Side of the Moon track on his acoustic guitar, using the guitar’s hollow body to create the clock ticking effect.

Yes, Foo Fighters have made a Bee Gees cover album. The special-edition LP titled HAIL SATIN was made for Record Store Day 2021 and features the “Dee Gees” performing five disco tracks on one side, and five live songs from Medicine at Midnight on the other. Enjoy their excellent cover version of You Should Be Dancing.

Korean musical group MayTree continues to crank out perfect A Cappella versions of TV and movie soundtracks. Their latest is a wonderfully-layered version of Danny Elfman’s opening and closing themes from The Simpsons. We challenge them to do the Futurama theme next.

The Polyphia track 40oz is known for its insanely difficult lead guitar part. But violinist Lu Szu Chien aka The Wasteland Studio rose to the challenge, performing a small part of the prog rock tune that’s every bit as impressive as Tim Henson’s original performance. Her cover of O.D. is similarly excellent.

We’ve always loved the Johnny Cash song Ring of Fire. While the original version will always be a classic, we have to say that Luna Lee’s cover version played on the gayageum sounds great, replacing the mariachi-style trumpets with an Asian-flavored country twang.

The guys from Scary Pockets teamed up with singer Corey Frye of The Main Squeeze for an uplifting funk cover version of MGMT’s 2007 hit track Electric Feel. The smooth grooves and soulful vocals will brighten even the darkest day.

Brazilian musician Johnatha Bastos was born with partially-formed arms. But he doesn’t let that get in his way. As he proves in this awesome guitar cover of Sweet Child O’ Mine, talent and tenacity can help overcome any physical challenge. Oh, and he plays keyboards too.

Scott Joplin’s The Entertainer is the most recognizable example of ragtime music. But what if it came out in the 1600s instead of the 1900s? Vinhetiero dons his best powdered wig for this lively harpsichord version of Joplin’s upbeat tune. Be sure to check out Vin’s more faithful rendition played on a 1915 piano.

Scary Pockets presents a sublime new take on the Tears for Fears hit Everybody Wants to Rule the World. With Cory Henry kicking ass on keys and lead vocals, we can’t help but think this is how Stevie Wonder would have recorded this song.

(PG-13: Language) During an intimate concert at Agoura Hills, California’s The Canyon Club, Foo Fighters performed an unexpected cover of the Queen classic Somebody to Love. Taylor Hawkins takes on Freddie Mercury’s challenging lead vocals, while a choir of backup singers adds depth to the rock opera sound.

Musician Dan Dubuque is a master of the Weissenborn lap slide guitar. He’s previously impressed us with his covers of Killing in the Name and Where Is My Mind? Now he’s back with a mindblowing new interpretation of Nirvana’s All Apologies, performed in a idyllic forest setting.

Stone-faced musician Seth Everman is back at his synth with a performance of Nirvana’s 1991 classic Smells Like Teen Spirit done in a bunch of different styles. The steel drum version makes us want to lie on a beach sipping Piña Coladas while the sun beats down on us.